to feel ripped off at having to pay for parking at theme parks and other touristy places?

[AKMD]

It's not as though there's a great deal of choice at some of these places.

Alton Towers - middle of nowhere
Whipsnade Zoo - middle of nowhere although if you go down the hill a bit there's a NT carpark on Bison Hill
Thorpe Park - MoN
Chessington, Legoland etc.

When they're charging £20/£50 a ticket to get in, I feel a bit ripped off having to pay for parking at £4/£5 a time as well. AIBU?

SeaHorses - Maybe (sorry this may be fueling the fire) you could stay in the Legoland hotel. It's £250 for a night with 2 adults and 2 kids but you get 2 days in the park for that and your own free car park. You might have to consider a healthy fast though as food is not cheap..

Yakbutter, we went to Warwick Castle last year (which is not as good as it used to be btw) and blue badge holders were charged full price for parking. Also there was no mention of parking charges until you were on the way out and were presented with a machine where you had to pay £5 for an exit token!

1.Never never pay full price entrance for Merlin attractions.
Use Tesco club vouchers or 2 for 1 vouchers (which are everywhere).

1. The last time we went to Alton Towers we went to look at the grotty hotel beforehand and parked there. It's further away but still on the same shuttle. They didn't charge us for parking? Don't ask me why but it's worth a go.

Mummytime, we're staying central London because we are going to visit theme parks with my sister, who lives in London. I can't stay with her because I am very allergic to cats, but want to be near her so we can do things in the evening.

The hotel is £39 a night, so I'm not sure I would be able to get anywhere much cheaper out of London that had good transport links anywhere.

Costs break down for 1 adult and 2 children- 2x hotel - £78, 2X hotel breakfast - £16, Return train tickets from Yorkshire to London - £47.80, Return trains from London to theme park X3 parks - £30. Return bus to theme parks x 3 parks - £30. That comes to just over £200, but I am happy to hear of any combinations of travel and hotel that work out cheaper.

AKMD - to get to Windsor on public transport is Waterloo to Windsor return (1 adult and 2 children with railcard) is £9.85. The train journey is a bit less than an hour. The shuttle bus goes every half an hour from Windsor to legoland and takes 15 mins.

To get to Alton Towers is going to be a bit of a hassle I reckon. There are four different travel centres you can get shuttle buses from. Two are Uttoxeter and Stoke. We are either going to do Yorkshire to Stoke £38.30 return on the train, then shuttle bus to Alton Towers from Stoke - £15 return. Or we are going go for two days via Stoke but do shuttle bus to Uttoxeter for overnight stay - extra £11.30 plus hotel cost in Uttoxeter of £29.00. So that is just over £100 for 3 of us for 2 days or just over £50 for 1 day.

All are a lot more hassle for us than just getting on a direct train to Blackpool.

Theme parks are total waste of time and money. Just don't go there!

I haven't been to Alton Towers for a few years but last time I went I did it through Virgin. I caught the train from Manchester to Stoke, there was a bus that picked you up from the station and brought you back again later and your entrance ticket was also included. It was only a few quid more than the entrance fee and was really easy. Not sure if something similar still exists.

I honestly don't understand how families afford these days out. We're fairly well off but there's no way we could do it. And would rather use clubcard vouchers for a holiday.

And yet they are so busy!

Hecate: "And then those of us who are just supervising our children but not actually planning on being suspended by our tits 14000 miles in the air and then swung twice round the earth before having a poker shoved up our arse can just go in, keep an eye on the kids and stick to paying eighthundred and forty quid for a luke warm coffee flavoured beverage and a scone so stale you can use it to beat whales to death."

You've really made me laugh with that.

We could afford to go, but i think the money would be better spent TBH. The entrance fee is not worth it, and yes, I don't understand why they are always so busy. Plus all that trudging about between the rides is exhausting.

We have a house and gardens with a huge adventure playground fairly locally. 27 quid to get in. The DC love it, i think it's about 80 quid for an annual pass.

I avoid theme parks but am going to Whipsnade this weekend - niece's birthday. Just realised they charge for parking, the feckers (been ages since we've been near as it is so expensive). It's ten miles from the nearest train station! (There is a bus but only ever two hours - don't fancy standing around in the cold with ds for two hours if we miss it.) AND there's the 'voluntary' donation they sneak onto the ticket price...

We go to theme parks because we really like theme park rides. If nobody in your family likes them, it is obviously a bit pointless to go!

All the headline prices are geared up to make up for the fact that most people go on discount vouchers etc, but the more I hear about your horror stories of hidden charges the more I'm glad the dds don't seem to want to go to them anyway. Maybe the Government commission who are threatening to make Ryanair etc reveal the true cost of tickets once compulsory extras are included should be working on the Theme Parks too!

But what are these hidden charges? We have been to many theme parks. Our main holiday was to Eurodisney and we have been to lots of theme parks in the UK.

We turn up, we pay for the ticket price, that is it. There is nothing else to pay for!

Fruit salad, some of us never go on holidays which you would use Tescos vouchers for. Actually I like Nectar points as you can just turn up and pay with them and don't have to send off for vouchers.

Sheikyerbouti, you're back! I actually checked to see if this was an old thread when your name popped up!

Thorpe Park, Legoland and Chessington aren't in the middle of nowhere!

If you don't live within walking distance, you either have to drive or take public transport. All three places are a short bus or taxi ride away from the nearest stations.

The car parks are maintained and stewarded, so why shouldn't there be a charge? Is it fair for public transport users to pay for this cost on their entrance fee, as well as their bus fare?